AUSTIN, TX — The following statement may be attributed to Starlee Coleman, Chief Executive Office of Texas Charter Schools Association:

At the Texas Charter Schools Association, our commitment is to ensuring every student in Texas, regardless of zip code and background, has access to a high-quality public education. That is a commitment that we share with our member schools, whom we expect to adhere to the high accountability standards set for public charter schools in Texas.

We expect all members of the Texas Charter Schools Association to follow the letter and spirit of the laws that are put in place to ensure taxpayer funds set aside to benefit children in public schools do just that. When any public school misuses taxpayer funds meant for students, they must be held accountable by state and federal authorities.

Accordingly, pending the outcomes of federal and state investigations into the management and operational practices Southwest Key imposed upon its affiliated charter schools, the Texas Charter Schools Association is suspending the organization’s membership effective immediately.

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About the Texas Charter Schools AssociationThe Texas Charter Schools Association (TCSA) was created in 2008 to unify, support, and grow the charter movement. TCSA represents 90 percent of the 675 public charter schools in Texas, serving more than 272,000 students. For more about charter schools in Texas, visit txcharterschools.org.

2019 Policy Priorities

The map below demonstrates the number of charter school students waitlisted for charter schools as of Fall 2018. Only students with a primary status of Waitlisted are displayed. In order to protect the identity of students, dots reflect a minimum of five nearby data points.